first loved

I recently saw this from a friend's post on Facebook.

"You're nobody til somebody loves you."

Call me an old soul but the first song that came into my mind was the American standard sung by Dean Martin. Gentlemen back then had C.L.A.S.S. (Though, forgive me, maybe my friend was referring to the song by James Arthur with the same title!)

These gentlemen have flair, I tell you. Brace yourself at 1:20!

Anyway, back to my point, I was actually more interested in the various responses to the post. Here were my thoughts upon reading them:

"I beg to disagree," - Alright! I feel you.
"Loving someone or being loved by someone should not define you. There is more to you than just loving someone. There is more to you than being loved," - Hmm...
"Not true. Love yourself," - Woah. Hold on there... Let's clarify that a bit.

Honestly, had I read these comments a year ago, I would have dug them and agreed with them, at least to some extent. However, a lot can change in a year - including finally being able to somewhat sustain a blog (Ohyeah. *patting myself on the back*). I'd like to highlight that change in perspective by pointing out that it started when I felt the warm truth of the words below. (Please take note of the operative word 'felt,' as opposed to 'fully understanding.')

"We love, because He first loved us." - 1 John 4:19

Lets break down my reactions to the comments in the post.

1. Yes, we are NOBODY until somebody loves us. 

I cannot emphasize that enough. It's not depressing as you think it is even if you're thinking that you're still single, or that your family doesn't love you (which I doubt) or that the whole world just doesn't seem to care about you. The good news is that there was never a time that you were not loved! 

We were born out of love - not just from our parents' but most of all from the Love that conceived us way before everything was created. God created every one of us out of his unbounded love for us. Whether we eat our fries with ketchup or ice cream, we sing our favorite song in tune or off key, or drink martinis shaken, not stirred, God loves us. He loves us and every little quirk that makes us who we are. We were somebody even before we started to think we wanted to be somebody.

2. We love. 

The second comment is a bit tricky. I would have somewhat agreed to it before; but here's where my problem with the statement lies - God is Love (1 Jn 4:8)! He's the very reason we are here. If you haven't come to terms with that yet, please go back to number one above.

Being loved by God defines who I am. Loving someone out of the goodness that was shown to me by God's love is what I strive to do; for if I were created by God in His image, loving others defines who I am. There is nothing more than to love as God loves me. 

 3. Love God first. 

When I was on the bandwagon of subscribing to the trendy self-help top lists online, I realized they were just endless lists and countless ways to confuse myself! 10 Things to Do to be Truly Happy, 3 Secrets of Happy and Successful People, 20 Ways to Love About Yourself in Your 20s - sound familiar? Oh yes, we've read them all. They struck our hearts and brightened up our days. How could they not? Out of the twenty items on the list, there was bound to be at least one item that made you go, uh-huh!

I see these lists now as vain, youthful *ehem* attempts to make sense of our feelings about this world around us. Yes, they hit home, especially for the younger generation, but it just distracts us from the rational and wonderful truth: God loves us. 'Nuff said. Here's a quip from a favorite radio show host of mine (check out his podcasts in Catholic Answers Live if you want to know more about the faith!):

 God loves us and there's nothing you can do about it! 

I love how he ends every show with this cheeky, lighthearted truth. Here's the catch, there are endless things you can do in response to knowing that God loves you. There are just so many ways you can pass this on and share the message about the warmth of his love. I will be sad for you if the first thing on your to-do list is to love yourself! 

Love God first, my friend, and you will find out there's more to life than what you have imagined it to be! (1 Cor 2:9)

embodied spirits

We are embodied spirits. 

This is one of three key things  I remember Bishop Soc Villegas emphasized in one of his homilies I attended. He drove this point during a huge gathering of Catholic communities a year ago on the feast of Christ the King. He shared this as a reminder for us that we were never meant to stay on this earth; we were meant for eternal life. 

I was reminded of this today during the mass offered for our dearly departed on All Souls Day. The priest shared a notable moment in his experience with the dying serving as the chaplain for an infirmary. The priest recounted that many times, during the last moments of the dying, the person would let out a huge breath, his last, as if he were letting out his soul - releasing it from the bondage of the human body. I witnessed this very recently, seeing the moment firsthand, as I bid goodbye to my dearest mother. 

What do we hold on to after experiencing or even just witnessing such moments? 

I remember during the last moments when my mom could still speak, she would tell us, "Kapoy, kapoy," (I'm tired, I'm tired). After years of struggling and bearing the physical pain, when she let out that deep breath, the words of the apostle Paul rang clear in my mind. In his letter to the Romans (8:18), Paul mentions of the glory that is to be revealed to us beyond the sufferings we endure here on earth. "Di na siya kapuyon," (She will no longer have to bear the pain), I said to my brother and father while still looking at my mom and holding her hand. I then read aloud our Lord's words through St. Paul's letter.

What do we hope for our dearly departed when we pray and offer masses for them?

But the souls of the just are in the hand of God. (Wisdom 3:1)

We pray together as one community of believers that the Lord may look kindly upon the souls of our beloved and that they may experience His compassionate and loving embrace. This is our hope - for our loved ones and for our very own souls.

It is my prayer that we, pilgrims here on earth, may continue to live a life that our loved ones wanted for us, and most of all, a life honorable to the One God we believe in. After all, death is inevitable and we are embodied spirits.